Gazprom ready to discuss resuming Turkish Stream, awaiting Turkey's move

The Turkish Stream gas pipeline, with an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters, was announced in December 2014. [Photo/Sputnik]

Russia's energy giant Gazprom is ready to discuss resuming the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project with Turkey and is waiting for the Turkish side to take the next step, Gazprom Management Committee Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev said Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Russian and Turkish officials discussed the project but did not reach a decision. Russian Deputy Energy Minister Yuri Sentyurin said that separate talks on the matter would be held later.

"We have already stated that the ball is in Turkey's court," Medvedev told reporters.

The Turkish Stream gas pipeline, with an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters, was announced in December 2014. The pipeline was expected to run below the Black Sea from Russia to Turkey and continue to a hub on the Turkish-Greek border, from where gas could be transferred to Southern Europe.

The project was suspended in late 2015 amid the deterioration of Moscow-Ankara relations after Turkey downed a Russian Su-24 jet in November 2015.

Rapprochement between the two countries began in late June when, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he apologized for the Su-24 incident and extended his condolences to the family of the pilot killed in the incident.